One Reply to “Normandie”

  1. Early May 1947, the 45 foot fishing boat Thistle left San Pedro with a 5 men crew. Its range is about 700 miles.
    Captain William Noble, crewmen Charles E Warren, Gilbert B Stethe, Robert Marchall and Walter Richards are all from San Pedro. They are not expecting anything special…just the same fishing routine!
    By May 19th, they were reported missing. They literally disappeared from the surface of the zone they are usually fishing. Nobody had seen them or the boat.
    George Wallace, the President of the American Fishermen's Tuna boat association reported that it was the first time in 9 years of connection with the fishing industry that such a thing had happened."We don't lose any ships" he said. "and when we do, the men are usually picked up on the scene by another boat".
    Where were they? Where was the Thislte?
    Saturday June 17 1947, the tuna clipper Normandie broke the news that the five men crew of the Thistle had been found at Clipperton island and that their boat "had been broken up" on the reefs. All in the crew were fine, in ragged clothe and sun burnt but OK
    The Normandie served the Navy during WW2 under the name YP-291. About 30 tuna boats were enlisted in the NAVY for shore patrols all the way to Clipperton and only 2 were not returned to their original owners.
    The 150 foot Normandie – one of the largest clipper from San Diego- was on its way to the Galapagos at the time when it sighted the men.
    Vice Admiral Oldendorf ordered the Normandie to take the five men and continue as planned to the Galapagos where a Navy craft from Panama was to take over and transport the five men back home.
    At the time, experienced fishermen expressed the belief that a "chubasco" storm was responsible for what had happened to the boat. These cyclone-like sudden storms are said to be common in the gulf of Tehuantepec. and must have "blown" the Thistle away from its course to the dangerous reefs of Clipperton.
    The crew had been missing for 6 weeks by the time they were found, surviving on Clipperton on salvaged rations from the wreck, wild pigs and coconuts. They had little water and were near starvation when found.

    Eric Chevreuil
    Clipperton Island Watch

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